23 replies to this topic

[DartSlinger]

The Turbo Fire is horrible. The plastic is extremely thin; the parts are put together incredibly badly, and it has very little modification potential. In case you really like this blaster, here is how I modified mine.

Here is what the Turbo Fire looks like stock.



Open it and gain an understanding of how the internals work. Understanding is the key to innovation.



I added an Ace #48 spring to the stock spring.



I reinforced with epoxy the extremely flimsy connection that primes the blaster.



I removed these orange pieces to expose more of the turret, which enables faster reloading. It may also enable you to use longer darts.




Then I drilled out all of the dart pegs from the rear of the turret.



Using a drill, I widened the turret holes to provide better airflow. I also lubricated the plunger-to-turret seal.



When reassembling your blaster, make sure that this projection on the turret



goes into this piece on the shell. If it is not matched up, your turret will not rotate.




I noticed that the stock foregrip is about to break,





so I decided to make my own. Here is how I did mine.


Start with a length of 1.25" Sch. 40 PVC that is 3.25".



Measure the width of the channel that your pump grip runs over.



Mark that width onto your PVC pump grip.



Mark those lines along your PVC pump grip by using a 3D/architectural/engineering ruler.



Cut them out. I used a hacksaw.



Mark where the pump grip holes will be drilled. Make sure that they are correct horizontally as well as vertically.



Drill your holes.



Connect the pump grip with screws and nuts.



Now for the wooden part. I used a scrap from, I believe, a pine 2x4. You don't need anything too beefy. Comfort on your hands is the main priority.



Cut out your grip.



Smooth the edges. I used a dremel sanding drum and sandpaper at the end for smoothness.



Mark the center of the bottom of your PVC pump grip. Using my eye was sufficient.



Connect it on the bottom using a 3D ruler.



Using a ruler, mark the center of your wooden pump grip at various points along your wood.



Connect the dots with a ruler, thus marking the center line.



Line the two lines up and hot glue the PVC to the pump grip. The hot glue is merely to hold the PVC onto the wood while drilling.



Now drill two holes through the PVC and into the wood. The way that you can tell what drill bit to use is to put a drill bit behind your screw and if the drill bit is the same size as the center shaft of the screw, it is the correct size. A drill bit that is a little bit smaller is also fine. You just don't want to have a drill bit that is too large, because then your screw will not bite into the wood.



Screw your two screws in.

Edited by DartSlinger, 28 April 2013 - 06:28 PM.

[DartSlinger]

Now screw them back out and tear off the hot glue. The point of screwing them in and then out is so that threads are already made when you screw the unattached PVC back on. It is much easier this way.


Now screw your screws back in.

One of my bolt holes was too big, and it created a wobble in the grip.



To resolve this, I sanded the area right around that bolt hole. I then removed the bolt, rubbed the head and first half inch of threads with silicone grease to prevent the epoxy putty from adhering to it, mixed up a small bit of epoxy putty and pressed it around the bolt hole. I twisted the bolt slightly to make a thread in the epoxy putty. Once it dried, the bolt screwed in and out, and there was no wobble.



There is one last step. Your pump grip will not fully prime your blaster because the rear of the PVC rams into an obstruction on the back of the pump stroke. Therefore, I cut off a small bit of the rear of the PVC with a dremel. It now has an unfettered priming stroke.



The handle is very comfortable and the range has increased from 15-20 feet to 30-35. The only problem is priming the blaster torques the priming bar down. It has a very light spring load in it though, so making sure that you don't pull down on the grip while pulling back is pretty easy.





With all of its original darts. Segregation helps to keep all of your darts organized.

Edited by DartSlinger, 28 April 2013 - 06:28 PM.

[azrael]

Dang, I think it looks kinda cool. Shame ranges are poop.

[Exo]

Wow. 2 pump grip mod write-ups in a day. Must be some sort of record for NH.

Edited by Exo, 28 April 2013 - 10:24 AM.

[mangonerf]

You might get better ranges with a cpvc barrel replacement. Also the for grip thing seems like a lot of trouble for not that good ranges.

[DartSlinger]

You might get better ranges with a cpvc barrel replacement. Also the for grip thing seems like a lot of trouble for not that good ranges.

The stock turret's barrels already grip the darts tightly along most of their length, so a CPVC barrel replacement isn't really necessary and might actually decrease range due to the blaster's small plunger tube and low plunger speed.
I completely agree about the grip: it is too much effort for such a worthless blaster. But since I'd spent too much time already on this, I decided to prevent the grip from breaking by making a durable one.

[Darkdragon]

This shell looks amazing. Perhaps a homemade internals mod could make this gun more useful,if the stock wares are crap. That, or converting this thing into an airgun. AT2k anyone?

[DartSlinger]

This shell looks amazing. Perhaps a homemade internals mod could make this gun more useful,if the stock wares are crap. That, or converting this thing into an airgun. AT2k anyone?

The stock plastic is too thin, and the shell is not wide enough to make useful homemade springer internals for this. Converting this into an air gun would most likely work, though.

[Darkdragon]

The stock plastic is too thin, and the shell is not wide enough to make useful homemade springer internals for this. Converting this into an air gun would most likely work, though.

Yeah. Ill bet it would be a comfy little thing too, from its looks. About how much did it cost you? I may pick one up to play around with, I just love the apperance of this thing.

[DartSlinger]

Yeah. Ill bet it would be a comfy little thing too, from its looks. About how much did it cost you? I may pick one up to play around with, I just love the apperance of this thing.

As with all Air Zone blasters, the stock is way too short, but other than that, it's pretty comfortable.
I purchased it at Toys R Us for $20.00. It is on sale for that same price on Toys R Us' website now. Here is the link. Be advised, though, that, in my opinion, it isn't worth it.

[Darkdragon]

As with all Air Zone blasters, the stock is way too short, but other than that, it's pretty comfortable.
I purchased it at Toys R Us for $20.00. It is on sale for that same price on Toys R Us' website now. Here is the link. Be advised, though, that, in my opinion, it isn't worth it.

My gosh... 20$, 20 ft. ranges, and terrible internals makes for some terrible coffee. I was expecting it to be about 10-13$lol.

Edited by Darkdragon, 28 April 2013 - 09:31 PM.

[Exo]

My gosh... 20$, 20 ft. ranges, and terrible internals makes for some terrible coffee. I was expecting it to be about 10-13$lol.

Gee, sounds like every Reclone.

Edited by Exo, 29 April 2013 - 06:23 PM.

[azrael]

How to add a barrel if you went AT2k route, though? Fired straight from the dart turret, I would think it would be wildly inaccurate.

[Exo]

How to add a barrel if you went AT2k route, though? Fired straight from the dart turret, I would think it would be wildly inaccurate.

I've noticed that the darts are the important part in accuracy, streamlines will be shit from any length barrel, well made stefans will be lasers with almost any well-fitting barrel.

[azrael]

I've noticed that the darts are the important part in accuracy, streamlines will be shit from any length barrel, well made stefans will be lasers with almost any well-fitting barrel.

Actually, lately I've been doubting the accuracy of standard size stefans. I've been making darts that are 50mm long, and seem to have better luck with those, at least in my partial brass breech setups. Perhaps stefans made with metal weights are pretty accurate, but I prefer not to use those. 50mm darts with a rubber/silicone tip seem to be the optimum amount of length for proper drag stabilization in dart flight. The metal washer type stefans just have such an overwhelming weight that it doesn't matter how long they are.

Anyway, off topic!

[Exo]

Actually, lately I've been doubting the accuracy of standard size stefans. I've been making darts that are 50mm long, and seem to have better luck with those, at least in my partial brass breech setups. Perhaps stefans made with metal weights are pretty accurate, but I prefer not to use those. 50mm darts with a rubber/silicone tip seem to be the optimum amount of length for proper drag stabilization in dart flight. The metal washer type stefans just have such an overwhelming weight that it doesn't matter how long they are.

Anyway, off topic!

Well, we're still on topic enough. If he were to put some sort of smaller ID faux barrel in the current faux barrel, it would be more "accurate" than it would be now. A lot of HvZers claim that their faux barrels don't reduce that much range, and seem to tighten up their aim a bit. All I really need to say is this: Chicago-style hoppers. They have a short barrel that is fitted to the dart, with a long "choke" at the end of that. Which is basically what you see with reclones and faux barrels, only with much higher volume.

[azrael]

Regarding HvZers' experience, It might be an effect called muzzle blast.

Link to a Chicago style hopper?

Edited by azrael, 01 May 2013 - 02:20 PM.

[Exo]

Regarding HvZers' experience, It might be an effect called muzzle blast.

Link to a Chicago style hopper?

Mmm, sorry. Basically there's a ~4" of CPVC, then ~8" of SCH80 1/2" PVC.

[481IceDragon]

Mmm, sorry. Basically there's a ~4" of CPVC, then ~8" of SCH80 1/2" PVC.

While I understand why you didn't include the link, is it seriously that hard to copy and paste something.

And azeael, is it seriously that hard to google something..


On topic: do you think it would be possible to cut of part of the faux barrel, or would the shell become to flimsy? I'm almost tempted to get one and see how large of a plunger I could sneak in there.

Edited by 481IceDragon, 02 May 2013 - 10:08 PM.

[Exo]

While I understand why you didn't include the link, is it seriously that hard to copy and paste something.

You know, it can be pretty fucking difficult to paste a link that you can't find, even with the amazing "Search NerfHaven with Google" feature right on the home page.

[481IceDragon]

You know, it can be pretty fucking difficult to paste a link that you can't find, even with the amazing "Search NerfHaven with Google" feature right on the home page.

Of course. Sorry to bother your highness.

[DartSlinger]

If he were to put some sort of smaller ID faux barrel in the current faux barrel, it would be more "accurate" than it would be now.

Good idea, but the faux barrel is already pretty tight, and the blaster is very accurate, due to it using suction-style darts.

On topic: do you think it would be possible to cut of part of the faux barrel, or would the shell become to flimsy? I'm almost tempted to get one and see how large of a plunger I could sneak in there.

The faux barrel is just a tube that is prevented from moving by little supports inside the shell. If you cut down the faux barrel, it would slide back and forth when one moves the blaster. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the whole barrel, but you can see part of it and the rear supports for it in this picture.




If you mean cutting away the entire barrel area of the blaster, no. Even cutting off a little bit would remove the front support from the inner tube, which would cause the tube to fall out. Also, I'm fairly sure that I removed the inner tube and the darts hit the inside of the blaster.

You can see from the picture below that inserting a larger plunger tube would be difficult, if not impossible, while maintaining the stock internals functioning. Also, the shell plastic is very thin, so heavy springs would most likely destroy your priming mechanism and shell.

Edited by DartSlinger, 03 May 2013 - 09:24 AM.

[Exo]

Good idea, but the faux barrel is already pretty tight, and the blaster is very accurate, due to it using suction-style darts.

Yes, we were speculating the accuracy if it were to use streamlines or stefans, though.

[DartSlinger]

Good idea, but the faux barrel is already pretty tight, and the blaster is very accurate, due to it using suction-style darts.

Yes, we were speculating the accuracy if it were to use streamlines or stefans, though.

The barrel friction fits .5" PVC perfectly, so a bit of superglue can secure it nicely.